Life's a 'Beach' at CBS

Studio inks deal with 'Laguna' producers

CBS Paramount Network Television is hooking up with the producers of MTV's red-hot unscripted sudser "Laguna Beach."

Studio has inked a one-year first-look deal with Gary and Julie Auerbach, who produce "Laguna" via their Go Go Luckey Prods. banner. Pact calls for the husband-and-wife team to expand into scripted programming, developing dramas and comedies for CBS Par.

"Beach" has been one of MTV's most successful franchises in recent years, thanks in part to the Go Go Luckey production style of bringing the narrative feel of scripted programming to the unscripted arena. Skein begins its third season this week.

CBS Par exec veep Maria Crenna confessed that she and her boss, studio prexy David Stapf, are "avid viewers of 'Laguna Beach.' "

Gary Auerbach noted that the worlds of reality and scripted TV "are all sort of blending together now.

"We applied standard narrative format onto reality shows, and now people are looking to see if you can apply a bit of the reality format to scripted shows," he said, adding he was looking forward to working with CBS Par to try some new things.

"It's a leap of faith for them to help us do scripted programming," he said. "And for us, the (advantage) of working with CBS and Paramount is that they have a great stable of writers we'll be able to partner with."

The Auerbachs have experience with scripted projects. Gary has worked on several indie films, while Julie was a writer on "Charmed" and "Dark Angel."

In addition to "Laguna Beach," Endeavor-repped Go Go Luckey is developing unscripted telepics for USA and Lifetime, as well as a supernatural-themed pilot for A&E (Daily Variety, March 14).